Featured Poet: Margaret Gibson
MARGARET GIBSON, Poet Laureate of Connecticut (2019-2022) has published 14 books of poems, all with LSU Press, most recently DRAW ME WITHOUT BOUNDARIES. Prior to this experimental book of poetry and prose, Gibson brought out a trilogy, which includes Broken Cup, Not Hearing the Wood Thrush, and The Glass Globe, which won the Connecticut Book Award in Poetry. AWARDS: The Lamont Selection, Melville Kane Award, Connecticut Book Award (twice). She was a Finalist for the National Book Award, 1993, and for the Poets’ Prize, 2016. With a grant from the Academy of American Poets, she edited an anthology, Waking Up to the Earth: Connecticut Poets in a Time of Global Climate Crisis.
Poet Margaret Gibson and Actress Tori Richnavsky will present a dramatic reading of Gibson's new book, DRAW ME WITHOUT BOUNDARIES.
Tori Richnavsky
Tori has been involved in theater both on stage and behind the scenes since the age of 5. She graduated from the Warner Theatre Center for Arts Education in Torrington, CT, and received her BA in Theatre with an acting concentration from Columbia College Chicago. She has performed with many theaters throughout Chicago and Connecticut, most recently spending most of her time with Phoenix Stage Company in Oakville Connecticut. Favorite rolls include: Sybil in Cover of Life, Mary in Dead Ringer, M'Lynn in Steel Magnolias, Marie Antoinette in the Revolutionists as well as participating in Pocket Shakespeare each year. Tori also served for a time as Chair of the Connecticut Community Theatre Association.
Ted Mook
Featured Musician, Theodore Mook: We welcome back the extraordinary cellist Theodore (Ted) Mook, who will accompany both poets during their readings. Theodore Mook is a versatile performer, comfortable in avante-garde, classical, historical, and commercial styles. He has been a particularly active proponent of new music since 1980. After almost 30 years in New York City, he now lives in a converted 19th Century Church in rural Rhode Island, where he teaches and hosts a concert series, SwitchArts.
Heath Allen
Heath Allen is a composer, jazz pianist, lyricist and theater creator based in Philadelphia.
Heath has recorded seven records/CD’s of his original jazz and has written extensively for dance, theater and cabaret. Highlights include three full- length scores for choreographer Karen Bamonte and multiple scores for the bunraku puppet troupe Figures of Speech Theater. In 2010 Heath became music director of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret. Because of the variety of vocal styles in their productions, Heath developed a unique compositional style incorporating opera, cabaret and pop. With the company he composed/arranged the comedic James Bond opera/cabaret Beards are for Shaving, the drag opera Mommie Queerest, the Civil War cabaret Wide Awake, and a German Expressionist cabaret/opera Marlene and the Machine. In 2014/15, Heath served as music director and lead composer for Andy: A Popera, commissioned and produced by Opera Philadelphia. Other shows include Bitter Homes and Gardens; Contradict This, an exploration of the complicated legacy of Walt Whitman; and You Can Never Go Down the Drain, a cabaret of Mr. Rogers’ music. With Heath as MD/composer/pianist, Bearded Ladies' performances have featured guest singers including Anthony Roth Costanzo, Tareke Ortiz, Stephanie Blythe and Davone Tines in venues ranging from NYC’s Lincoln Center to Seattle's Benaroya Hall; from Boston's ART to the docks of Wellington, New Zealand.
Other recent projects include writing the text and music for Reports of a Rare Mammal; and The Bearded Ballerina, composed for John Jarboe and the Relache New Music Ensemble (the 2017 Dina Wind Commission). In 2022, Heath was commissioned by the Parkinson’s Foundation in conjunction with the Michael J Fox Foundation to create an original cantata. Jonah and the Plankton, his “eco-cantata”, was performed in December 2023 with the Parkinsingers, TVoce (Opera Philadelphia’s youth chorus) and the rapper, Anthony Martinez-Briggs (aka “us”).